WJPA Sports

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Esmerlyn Valdez tripled, singled and knocked in two runs, Endy Rodriguez and Nick Gonzales homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 on Thursday. The Pirates split their four-game series in Philadelphia, closing with a win against a Phillies team that had won 11 of its previous 15 games at Citizens Bank Park. Jake Mangum had three hits and a run scored, while Brandon Lowe had a pair of hits, scored a run and reached safely three times for Pittsburgh. The Pirates had 14 hits and limited the Phillies to four.

Alex Ovechkin is returning for a 22nd NHL season after re-signing with the Washington Capitals. The league’s career goal-scoring record holder inked a deal with a $1 million salary and bonuses worth an additional $8 million. Ovechkin turns 41 in September. He has 929 goals after scoring 32 in his 40-year-old season. The Russian superstar broke Wayne Gretzky’s mark of 894 goals in April 2025. He had said in recent months he was waiting until the offseason to decide whether to return or retire. Ovechkin in a news release sent out by the Capitals declared, “I’m back.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Stewart Cink got off to a great start in a bid to win his third straight senior major. Cink was the only player to make five birdies on the back nine at Scioto Country Club on Thursday, shooting a 3-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead in the U.S. Senior Open with Charlie Wi. The 53-year-old Cink has four wins in nine PGA Tour Champions starts this year, including the Senior PGA Championship and the Tradition. The last player to win the Senior PGA, Tradition and U.S. Senior Open in the same year was Jack Nicklaus in 1991. Scioto, the Donald Ross course hosting its third U.S. Senior Open, is where Nicklaus learned to play the game.